Will these work together??Gaming!!

[Steely]

Ive used off the shelf systems for my whole PC life!Tired of not being able to expand or update them for my needs(no AGP or PCI ex slot and such).Been debating a long time on building a Gaming pc.My problem was i never knew enough about components to choose them.A friend gave this list.Tell me what you think.

- Case: Gigabyte 3D Aurora Black Aluminum
- Silverstone 560W Power Supply
- Motherboard - Asus A8N Deluxe
- Processor - AMD Athlon X2 4200+
- CPU Cooler - Zalman CNPS7700-CU 120mm heatsink
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
- 2 x 1GB(2x512MB) Corsair XMS DDR400-2gb total
- 2 x 250GB Western Digital SATA 3.0(for storage and games)
- 80GB Hitachi Deskstar SATA 3.0(to run OS and Apps on)
- 2 x eVGA 7800GT SLI
- Creative Audigy 2
- Pioneer Black DVD Burner DL DVR-110DBK
- Sony Black Floppy Drive

My goal is not to have to touch(update)the comp for as long as possible and id like to be able to play Elderscrolls 4 Oblivian with as much graphics and view distance as possible when its released.Possible with these components??Im in need of a decent(straight normal type)keyboard,a optacal mouse,router,gaming headphones,and a 19 or 21" moniter also.Recommend any?I also have to play games at 800x600 cause im near blind and anything higher makes everything too small-plus every new game ive seen lately is based in the dark(DOOM3 etc..why do they do this btw??)and i just cant see squat when things are small!!Id like to keep the cost,including internal and external parts,under 3 grand.Comments and suggestions on any changes??

Also the other thing that has me scared is putting this together myself.Im sure i could read all instructions and bench test the MoBoard and such.But first startup and making everything humm to the same tune after first startup is what has me scared.Should i be so worried??Theres noone local i can go go to.Well there is one but he wants more to put it together than what the components cost.

On a side note-I use a optical mouse now.Sometimes it wants to jump across the screen.Ive returned and exchanged this one 3 times.Any with a idea of the problem and solution??Thanks

[jfk]

You should replace the PSU with one that is SLI certified. I'm not a Hitachi HDD fan, but that is your choice. Should be a nice PC.

[Cricket]

Yeah, the 560 watt Silverstone is not on the SLI certified list...but the 600 and 650 watt Silverstone power supplies are.

I'd pass on the Hitachi DeathStar too. When IBM was making the DeathStars I seen a whole bunch of them die prematurely with the "click of death". I'd go with Maxtor, Seagate or Western Digital instead.

Rest of the parts look good.

Cricket

[Stevevai9]

Drop the Athlon X2 4200 and get an X2 3800+. The 4200 isn't worth the extra cash. If possible, go for an X2 4400+.

Get 1 7800GTX instead of the two 7800GT's. Sli doesn't porvide enough of a performance increase to make it worth the money.

[blue60007]

If that's a Retail processor, it somes with an adequate heatsink/fan. You'll void the warranty if you don't use the retail heatsink/fan.

Probably won't need expensive XMS RAM unless you plan on overclocking. Value Select works just as well.

As for the optical mouse, is it wireless? If so, is the reciever near the mouse (nothing in between)? You're not using it on a very reflective surface (or a non-reflective surface, such as glass)?

[Steely]

Never noticed the SLI certified thing on the power supply.Pc dumb i guess--well i am at building anyway!!Will the 600 or 650 fit my case and will it cause extra cooling probs since its bigger.

As for the the deathstar.I was told the only thing better was a the raptor 74gb but thats real expensive!!

On the CPU cooling fan.I read somewhere that the fan that came with them was prone to die and soon.But they did say you could contact the company and they would send a replacement FIXED one.

As for the ram.Would i need the xms since the vid cards are factory overclocked??

Vid Card-would i be better just getting a single 512mb gt or x?And leave the other slot for a second later on?

Ram Q?Would there be a prob with just getting 2-1GB chips and leaving 2 slots open if upgrade needed later instead of getting 4-512 chips??Can the Moboard run 4gb without probs and at full speed??

And the mouse.No its not wireless.Ive heard that i need a solid color mouse pad but ive found none locally(using a allsop raindrop graphic pad atm).

Thanks

[Stevevai9]

Originally Posted by Steely Never noticed the SLI certified thing on the power supply.Pc dumb i guess--well i am at building anyway!!Will the 600 or 650 fit my case and will it cause extra cooling probs since its bigger. As for the the deathstar.I was told the only thing better was a the raptor 74gb but thats real expensive!! On the CPU cooling fan.I read somewhere that the fan that came with them was prone to die and soon.But they did say you could contact the company and they would send a replacement FIXED one. As for the ram.Would i need the xms since the vid cards are factory overclocked?? Vid Card-would i be better just getting a single 512mb gt or x?And leave the other slot for a second later on? Ram Q?Would there be a prob with just getting 2-1GB chips and leaving 2 slots open if upgrade needed later instead of getting 4-512 chips??Can the Moboard run 4gb without probs and at full speed?? And the mouse.No its not wireless.Ive heard that i need a solid color mouse pad but ive found none locally(using a allsop raindrop graphic pad atm). Thanks

They only have a 512mb GTX.

And there is nothing wrong with getting 2x1gb instead of 4x512mb.

[nicolaus corelius]

ill reccomend to have the SLI ready PSU and mobo and later adding an extra vid card later on. that way you could make a couple of years of good gaming experience.

[Amazin Caucasian]

2x1gb generally has higher latency...so check to make sure u have the same latency as the 4x512

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Steely Never noticed the SLI certified thing on the power supply.Pc dumb i guess--well i am at building anyway!!Will the 600 or 650 fit my case and will it cause extra cooling probs since its bigger.

The other Silverstone power supplies are physically the same size as the 560 so it'll fit in that case fine. And the only time it'll run hotter is if you ever cause the system to draw the full 600 or 650 watts from the PSU. Normally, the PSU will only provide whatever amount of power the computer requires...it doesn't provide the whole 600 or 650 watts all the time.

Originally Posted by Steely As for the the deathstar.I was told the only thing better was a the raptor 74gb but thats real expensive!!

Well, they don't have the nickname "DeathStar" for nothing. I personally lost 5 IBM DeathStars to the dreaded "click of death" over the years and I'm not about to buy another even if they are made by another company. There are other good hard drive brands to choose from. Maxtor, Seagate and Western Digital all make good hard drives...and I understand the Maxtor's with the 16MB cache perform nearly as well as the Raptors. But if you want to take a chance on the Hitachi...

Originally Posted by Steely On the CPU cooling fan.I read somewhere that the fan that came with them was prone to die and soon.But they did say you could contact the company and they would send a replacement FIXED one.

I haven't heard of a problem with the stock heatsink fans for the Athlon 64 Dual Cores...but they are pretty new and they haven't been out in the market long enough to pass judgement yet. I'm currently working on a computer with a 1.2GHz Athlon T-Bird that I built in 2001 and the stock heatsink is still running fine after 4 years.

Originally Posted by Steely As for the ram. Would i need the xms since the vid cards are factory overclocked??

No.

Originally Posted by Steely Vid Card-would i be better just getting a single 512mb gt or x?And leave the other slot for a second later on?

Can't help you here...I'm not a gamer and don't follow the video card market.

Originally Posted by Steely Ram Q?Would there be a prob with just getting 2-1GB chips and leaving 2 slots open if upgrade needed later instead of getting 4-512 chips??

No.

Originally Posted by Steely Can the Moboard run 4gb without probs and at full speed??

It should be able to...but why would you need 4GB of RAM?

Originally Posted by Steely And the mouse.No its not wireless.Ive heard that i need a solid color mouse pad but ive found none locally(using a allsop raindrop graphic pad atm).

Where'd you hear that? A wireless mouse will work on any surface that a wired mouse does...it's still using the same light source and optics.

Cricket

[Steely]

Any idea then why the optical likes to hop around at times??Example-im playing Counterstrike Condition Zero,running around killing then all of a sudden my sights hit straight up in the sky and start spinning around till i swing the mouse around a few times then its normal again.Anyone using a multicolor(graphical) mousepad and a optical mouse??Have you have this prob??Whered i hear that??From dell!!Reminder it's just a normal optical--it has a cord!!

Why would i need 4Gb of ram??Not sure really.Just leaving my options open for future upgrades!!

Dont know what to do on the deathstar!!Im at 50/50 right now.It'll be a month or so before i build anyway so i'll have time to think it over!!

On the 4200 to 4400.I probably will do this.Will just have to wait and see.

Anyone gonna try Elderscrolls 4 Oblivian btw??

[jfk]

Sometimes a dust bunny or hair gets caught in the optical and makes it do that, NOT the multi colored pad. I've used pads with a pattern and plain, both work equally well.

I still say go with a Seagate, Maxtor, or Western Digital hard drive, but it's your data.

[nicolaus corelius]

Any idea then why the optical likes to hop around at times??Example-im playing Counterstrike Condition Zero,running around killing then all of a sudden my sights hit straight up in the sky and start spinning around till i swing the mouse around a few times then its normal again.Anyone using a multicolor(graphical) mousepad and a optical mouse??Have you have this prob??Whered i hear that??From dell!!Reminder it's just a normal optical--it has a cord!!

i had the same experience with apple mice

[blue60007]

Originally Posted by jfk NOT the multi colored pad.

As long as there is no red on this mouse pad.

[jayb1234]

RAM: Check the QVL at ASUS or use the RAM makers configurator to be sure you order a compatible part number.

Sound Card: That motherboard has pretty good integrated 8 channel sound. You might want to try it out before you buy a card.

OS: You can save about a hundred dollars by getting the OEM version instead of the retail one.